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Reports on the decision of Alberta Premier Ralph Klein to allow social workers to place children in foster homes made up off homosexuals if they deemed it necessary. How conservatives in the government reacted; The informal policy prior to Klein's decision, which did not allow homosexuals to be foster parents; Comments from Lyle Oberg, Social Services minister; Possible reasons that social workers would place children with homosexual foster parents. INSET: New pressure to spend money, by Brian Mulawka..

Describes the controversies in Calgary and Edmonton over whether or not to allow rock musician Marilyn Manson to perform. Decisions by the Economic Development Edmonton committee of the Edmonton City Council to allow Manson to perform; Manson's history and background; Manson's religious beliefs as a Satanist.

Examines the problem of wild boar, escaped from surrounding farms, that have made their home in Edmonton's river valley, the longest stretch of urban parkland in North America. Dangers for city dwellers; Confrontation accounts; Response of police; Comments from Alberta swine expert George Foxcroft; Progenitors of the wild boar; Its features, including intelligence, tusk and nose; Alberta swine expert Geroge Foxcroft; Issues for their feral survival; Procreation in the wild. INSET: A tasty solution to the wild boar..

Reports on the decision to remove the name of the scholar John MacEachran from the Universities of Alberta's records because of his involvement with the Alberta Eugenics Board. MacEachran's contributions to the University; Embarrassment of the university by the association with eugenics programs. INSET: A lesson unlearned..

Discusses a report released by Alberta Health which suggests that Albertans may soon have to pay for some services currently covered by medicare. Coming shift to more private health care; Details of report; Debate about extent to which government can cover health insurance; Role of regional health authorities; Objections to report; Increasing role of private companies; Why provinces follow the Canada Health Act.

Discusses the unique public consultation that the government of Alberta is seeking from citizens in October of 1997 about the Calgary Declaration. Opposition to the program from Social Crediter Randy Thorsteinson; How the consultation will be handled; What it aims to discover; Thorsteinson's claims that the questions in the survey are ambiguous; Outlook for passage of the Calgary Declaration.

Discusses education in Edmonton, Alberta in 1997. The Edmonton Public Schools and the choices they offer for education; A comparison of the James Gibbons Elementary School and the McArthur Elementary School; The type of public school that garners the most support from parents; How parental involvement affects the schools.

States that a report from the Alberta Science and Research Authority (ASRA) in 1997 has called for increased investment in research and development. The Science, Research and Information Technology ministry and its head Lorne Taylor; How Alberta ranks with the other provinces for research and development investment; What the new goals for investment are; Making knowledge the fourth pillar of the economy; Comments from Taylor.

Discusses the problems that the towns of Fort McMurray and Sylvan, Alberta are having in getting video lottery machines removed from their communities, as of September 8, 1997. Why, despite votes for the removal of the VLT machines, the provincial government has not removed them; Premier Ralph Klein's views on the subject; The efforts of Rocky Mountain House Christian Reformed Church minister Philip Stel in the anti-VLT movement.

Focuses on controversy in Alberta over a gay history project conducted by the Red Deer and District Museum. The opposition to the project voiced by legislative assembly members Victor Doerksen and Stockwell Day; The reaction of the community; Comment from Wendy Martindale, museum director.

Reports the decision of a female judge in Alberta to permit a sperm-donor to see his son. The appeal of a court decision by the mother, Caroline Johnson, that gave father King Tak Lee, whom she calls a sperm donor, access to their four-year-old son, Nigel; The argument of the mother that allowing Dr. Lee access would disrupt Nigel's life; The belief of the judge that the son has the right of access to his father.

Reports on the expanded use of video lottery terminals (VLTs) in Alberta, Canada. Hope of anti-VLT campaigners for public backlash against gambling; Court case regarding VLTs in Wood Buffalo, Alberta; Response of Wood Buffalo community leaders; Possibility that VLTs will be removed from Wood Buffalo; Expansion of government's gambling involvement and possibility of public revolt.

Reports on privatized liquor sales in Alberta. Impact on the industry, after four years; Alberta as the only Canadian province to have privatized; Comments from Roy Bricker, acting chief executive officer for the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission (AGLC), on the low failure rate of the new liquor retail business; Government requirement that liquor be sold in stand-alone establishments with a 90% liquor business.

Reports that local authorities in Alberta will remain in control of child welfare services. The claims that Alberta children have died needlessly because of disorganization in the department; Liberals claiming that Social Service is being underfunded; Comments from Liberal Sloan and Spokesman Bob Scott.

Provides accounts and advice concerning wild boar hunting at Hog Wild Specialties, a bowhunting park northwest of Edmonton, Alberta, run by Deb and Earl Hagman. Costs to the hunter; Difficulties of tracking the wild boar; Dangers; The history of boar hunting; Pigsticking in William the Conqueror's England; Account of the hunt experience at Hog Wild by Graham Dalziel, of the `Edmonton Sun.'

Examines the battle over video lottery terminals (VLT) in Alberta. Coalitions which have formed to accentuate the positive aspects of VLTs; Hospitality Alberta, a coalition between the Alberta Restaurant and Food Services Association and the Alberta Hotel Association; The money generated by VLTs; The difficulty in getting pro-VLT voters for plebiscite elections; Outlook.

Examines the assault of a female student by her male classmate in Edmonton, Alberta at the Harry Ainlay High School. The lack of sympathy for the victim as one effect of gender equality; The lack of intervention by onlookers; Comments from school principal Michael Demaine.

Reports that Fort McMurray, one of the largest cities in Alberta, voted with the majority of the Wood Buffalo municipality for the removal of video lottery terminals (VLTs). Feelings that VLTs were damaging family finances; Interest in a province-wide vote to remove VLTs from all of Alberta.

Looks at a bill in the Alberta legislature which would enable grandparents to seek visitation rights of their grandchildren should the parents try to limit visitation access. The efforts of Heather Forsyth in passing the legislation; Comments from Forsyth; Children that would be impacted by the legislation; Fears from parental advocates that the bill will take away parent's rights; The question of parents deliberately choosing to restrict access for grandparents.

Reports on attempts by Alberta farmers to leave the Alberta Fresh Vegetable Marketing Board (AFVMB). History of the AFVMB; Percentage of vegetables consumed in Alberta which are grown in Alberta; Revenue collected by the AFVMB in 1996; What the AFVMB does; Why the farmers wish to leave.

Examines the strike of workers of the Safeway grocery store chain in Alberta. Number of workers on strike since March 26, 1997; Safeway's complaints against the workers' union, United Food & Commercial Workers; Safeway's advertisements; Who the public supports. INSET: Crossing the line for love..

Discusses how senior citizens from British Columbia are flocking to Alberta in search of tangible financial benefits. Comparison of the number of seniors that relocated to Alberta and British Columbia between 1994-1995; The lower taxes and property costs in Alberta; The direct cash benefits.

Focuses on opthamologist Howard Gimbel's provision of services. His plan to offer speedy cataract surgery to patients who would pay a set fee per eye while those who could not provide the fee would have a waiting period; Alberta Health determination that a doctor cannot be in both public and private systems; Provision for Gimbel to perform surgery for patients from outside the province but not within it.

Focuses on the case Vriend v. Alberta heard before the Supreme Court of Canada which would make sexual orientation a protection under Alberta's Individual's Rights Protection Act. Delwin Vriend being fired from his job for allegedly flaunting his homosexuality; Details of the case.

Focuses on the taxes, industrial levies, and environmental taxes that have been introduced in Alberta, Canada. Alberta's lack of a provincial sales tax; Specific taxes in Alberta; Mention of tax misdirection; Comments of economists.

Looks at child welfare in Alberta in 1997. Attempts at devolution; Groups fighting the increasing involvement of the government, including Parents Against Government Abductions; The debate over privatization of the child welfare system; How privatization of child welfare in the state of Kansas has worked; Efforts by social workers to retain the government in child welfare in Alberta.

Examines the status of the Alberta Liberal Party's leadership vote as of September 1997. The vote to take place in April, 1998; The possible candidates, such as Linda Sloan; The members of Legislative Assembly (MLA) that are interested.

Discusses why Linda Witham, an obstetrician in Red Deer, Alberta, opted out of medicare and started to have her patients pay her directly. Witham's criticism of Alberta's medicare system; Reaction of her patients; Her fees compared to those of Alberta Health Care; Comments from Witham and others in the medical community.

Looks at Alberta's child welfare regionalization as of September 1997. Concern over the actuality of the 18 proposed Children and Family Services Authorities (CFSA); Details on the devolution of Alberta child welfare; Why Social Services Minister Lyle Oberg killed a key devolution process.

Looks at several financial scandals affecting the administration of Ralph Klein in Alberta in 1997. The Multi-Corp. affair; The theft of over $800,000 from the CKUA fund; Missing money from the fund of a Conservative constituency association, the St. Albert Tory association; Comments from the association's president Lesley Gronow; Criticism of Gronow's comments and behavior.

Discusses Alberta politics and government as of September 8, 1997. The suggestion by the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association (AUMA) that a sales tax might be a good replacement for the municipal property tax; The recommendation by Alberta's Tax Reform Commission and Growth Summit co-chairman Mike Percy that Alberta examine a sales tax.

Examines the friction between the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) and the provincial government in Alberta. Review of the board at the suggestion of Education Minister Gary Mar; Exclusion of Auditor General Peter Valentine from the process due to a conflict of interest; Details of possible conflicts of interest; Critics of Tory policy, which argues that the Auditor General was excluded due to political grudges.

Discusses the gradual influx of virtual banks in Alberta. Toronto-Dominion Bank's August 5, 1997 announcement that it will open a call center in Edmonton in early 1998; How virtual banks are detrimental to employees and older customers; Other call centers being built in Canada; How changes in financial services reflect changes in technology and society.

Informs of the You're Amazing health program in Alberta designed to persuade Albertans that they are doing well in taking care of themselves. The endorsement of the wellness philosophy, which believes that sickness is symptomatic of emotional and spiritual conflicts; What the program does and does not teach about health; Questions about public support for You're Amazing; The economic rationale of wellness.

Reports on a seminar given by self-help author John Bradshaw, attended by 140 people in Edmonton, Alberta. Bradshaw as promoting an immature cult of self worship; Comparisons to Freud's view of family life; Bradshaw's annual income; His childhood; Criticism from Mark Kingwell, philosophy professor at the University of Toronto, Ontario; The proclivity of people in the 20th century to attempt to purchase cures for spiritual ills.

Examines the positive and negative economic aspects of privatization in Alberta. Various examples of bid awards to private companies that did not save money; Street sweeping in Calgary; Comments from Don Donahue, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 37, on why Calgary's public employees should be awarded the bids; The experiment in privatization by the Edmonton Public School Board, the outcome of which favored union performance; Explanation of the halo effect.

Reports that drink boxes in Alberta will begin carrying a small deposit starting in September 1997. How the deposit is intended to help the environment by reducing the amount of garbage entering landfills; Why Tetra Pak Canada, the major manufacturer of such boxes feels the deposit is unnecessary; How the boxes are recycled; How 70 percent of the juice boxes are used by kids; The amount of the deposit depending on the size of the box.

Looks at the plan to devolve child welfare services to local authorities in Alberta. The example of Ontario's local control of child welfare; Contrasts between the Alberta system and the Ontario system; How the devolution plan will work; The efforts of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) in opposing devolution; Criticism of the AUPE; Outlook.

Looks at same-sex classes in Alberta schools. Segregation to improve the grades of students by removing the distraction of the opposite sex; The apparent success of sexual segregation in schools; How the push for same-sex classes came about; Speculation about why same-sex classes improve grades.

Presents concerns that the child protective services of the government of Alberta are more focused on opening job positions than about caring for children. Alberta liberals demanding more child apprehensions; Claim by critics that such a policy may further weaken families and harm children; The number of children who died under government care in 1995; The question of increasing the number of social workers at a time when the welfare caseload has reached a record low.

Remarks on the fifth annual International No Diet Day, held on May 6, 1997 at the University of Alberta. Groups supporting the event including nutritionists, feminists and lesbian activists; Comments from organizer Jacqui Gingras and from philosophy professor Mark Kingwell; Statistics which show the dangers of too much fat in one's diet.